Operation “Pile on the Veggies” at SUBWAY (giveaway ends 7/14/14)

As a parent it’s important that our children eat well balanced, healthy meals. Getting children to eat fruits is usually pretty easy. Most kids enjoy the sweet taste. Getting children to eat vegetables is not so easy. For some reason children simply do not like vegetables. I don’t know why. Veggies are so good.

When my children were little I started them with vegetables as soon as it was OK with the pediatrician. I had them eating broccoli, spinach and other vegetables children won’t even make the attempt to try. I am grateful that I did that because now as teenagers my kids love vegetables and will eat any veggie I put in front of them including the dreaded three – broccoli, spinach and lima beans.

My kids actually prefer their vegetables raw. If I can’t serve them raw then they only want them steamed. They like them plain too with no butter, herbs or seasoning. Baby carrots are one of their favorite snack foods too.

You can try and trick your children into eating vegetables, but that doesn’t always work. Instead show them how vegetables can help enhance a meal and make things taste better.

Take for example SUBWAY. As you know SUBWAY offers patrons a variety of vegetables that they can add to their sandwich including cucumbers, olives, pickles, lettuce, peppers, spinach and tomatoes.

My daughter’s sandwich was piled so high with veggies that some of them fell out when she was eating it.

My son enjoyed a sandwich stuffed with veggies too.

Mmm… makes me wish I had a SUBWAY sandwich right now.

I think this is more of a veggie sandwich with a little bit of meat then the other way around. Ha Ha.

The whole SUBWAY experience is fun for kids. It puts them in charge of their meals and it gives them the opportunity to decide what they want and don’t want. This is the perfect time to encourage your child to “Pile on the Veggies” to add more favor to their sandwich. They don’t have to pile on every veggie available, but you can encourage your child to start small and work their way up. The next time you visit a SUBWAY restaurant encourage your child to add some cucumbers and peppers to their sandwich. Tell them about how much more flavorful and fulling their sandwich will be when they Pile on the Veggies. If that works then next time have them try two different veggies, like pickles and olives. Eventually when they have made their way through all the available vegetables have them try a sandwich that is piled with all of the veggies.

One of our sandwiches being made at SUBWAY. Notice all the fresh veggies.

Mmm… we must have cucumbers and green peppers on our sandwiches. I don’t like olives but the rest of my family does.

So many pepper options – hot peppers, banana peppers, sweet peppers…

Adding the vegetables to the SUBWAY sandwich is a great way to get more vegetables into your child’s daily diet. You could easily get a serving of vegetables, or more, by Piling on the Veggies on your SUBWAY sandwich.

SUBWAY offers a Fresh Fit menu that features tasty, heart-healthy choices for all ages. SUBWAY offers kids their own menu include the Fit Mini Sub (which can be piled high with fresh veggies such as cucumbers and spinach), apple slices, and low-fat milk. As an adult I enjoy getting the apple slices with my meal too (even thought SUBWAY has delicious cookies available).

SUBWAY knows that getting your kids to eat their vegetables is tough. To encourage little ones to eat their vegetables SUBWAY is offering a “magical” experience, inspired by one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters – Disney’s Maleficent. The ‘Operation: #PileOnTheVeggies’ experience will include magical elements sure to excite your kids and help them realize the powers that veggies can provide!

When you order a kids meal at SUBWAY you’ll receive a movie inspired backpack. Your child can use it to tote around their supplies for camp or hold on to it for when school starts. There are four backpack designs available. You can collect them all.

To find a SUBWAY location near you visit www.SUBWAY.com. For more about SUBWAY Fresh Fit Kid’s Meals and the Maleficent promotion visit www.SUBWAYKids.com. The SUBWAY Kids site also offers parents tips on helping your children eat healthy, fitness tips and more. The site is worth checking out.

SUBWAY would like you to try “Operation Pile on the Veggies” with your child. They are giving a lucky read to following;

$25 SUBWAY gift card

$50 Fandango gift card to go see Maleficent (or another movie if you’ve already seen it).

Thank you SUBWAY!

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end on July 14, 2014 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen in their place.

To enter please comment on this post and tell me how you encourage your child/grandchild to “Pile on the Veggies” and/or how you encourage healthy eating with your family.

For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete the initial entry requirement or the additional entries wont’ qualify (I do check). Extra entries are optional.

I’m the first to admit that I lack on the veggie intake, I’ve just never had a taste for most of them. But I do make a point to start my kids out young on there veggies. And I try really hard not to show the kiddos my distaste.

With my daughter I have lucked out in that she has always liked most veggies, it might be because I made her baby food at home or she just is that way! Typically if she doesn’t like something I’ll serve it over and over and eventually she does. We try to eat as healthy as we feed her, but it’s a bit harder to break lifelong habits and cravings for the bad stuff!